


"So Goodbye, Don't Cry and Smile"

by Quinton_P



Category: Let's Play (Webcomic)
Genre: Airports, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday Presents, Bittersweet Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Goodbyes, Internal Monologue, Ruminate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:41:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26217331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinton_P/pseuds/Quinton_P
Summary: “Just remember, whenever you feel lonely, just as I, look up at the sky and that’s where we’ll be. Even though we’re an ocean apart, we’re still under the same sky, and that will never change. Do you hear me, Bunty?”As the office cast sees Charles off at the airport upon accepting Ellesmere's London offer, Charles and Sam share their last words.Will Charles have the resolve to leave? Will he leave without regrets? Does he want to leave?
Relationships: Charles Jones/Sam Young (Let's Play)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	"So Goodbye, Don't Cry and Smile"

**Author's Note:**

> Due to the amount I love I have for Charles & Sam and their relationship, I have decided to create an ao3 account to post some of my drabbles and oneshots here!
> 
> To get an even better feel for the emotion of the story, I will link the section to a song at the end that very accurately describes Charles' thoughts in this very moment. Please check it out!  
> All credit for the characters and universe should be directed towards Mongie, creator and author of Let's Play.

Going down the line of his colleagues who opted to see him off at the airport, he finally reached the brunette that he’d become so attached in the last few months.

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding; he broke the silence between them. “Samara?” He spoke with a gentle smile looking down at her, whose gaze was focused on a ground at her feet.

Slowly bringing her head up to look into the blue ocean eyes that drowned her in love for months, she could feel her own eyes slowly brimming with tears. “I guess this is it huh? I’m so happy for you Charles, this really is an amazing opportunity” she replied with a genuine smile, swallowing the lump that was making its way to her throat.

His face softened at her words. Bringing up his hand to hold her chin, he looked into her eyes, “Is it really? I can see right through you Samara, you have never been able to lie to me” he whispered.

“I-It’s just that... I’m going to miss you that’s all... We’ve become so close in these past few months, not being about to see you almost everyday is going to be different...” at this point even the others could begin to hear the quiver in her voice. Before he could respond, she cut him off.

“But don’t worry Charles! I’m sure I’ll get used to it after a while! You know how emotional I can get, don’t mind silly me”

_ Keep it together Jones _

“Samara.” He interrupted the bubbly facade he knew she was trying to keep together, “What did I tell you about telling me the truth?” he softly chided. Feeling his resolve slowly break, he brought up his arms but stopped midway, remembering their audience as his 6’5 boss’s eyes shot laser beams in his direction.

_ hic hic _ Broken out of the stare-down with his boss, he turned to the petite brunette who was now wiping at her eyes as tears started to fall.

Now, he could feel the cracks of his own mask starting to show through.

Pulling back, he reached into his pocket, hands clenched around cold metal; slightly shaking as he debated what to do next. Fighting his internal conflict, he went with his gut. Pausing, Sam saw him fumbling, hand in pocket, eyebrows slightly tented in what seemed to be like concentration.

Pulling out a metal chain, he held it in his fist “Samara, there’s something I must give to you. I was planning on giving it to you on your birthday... but decided to keep it on me. But now, I feel as if it belongs to you.”

“Charles this is… “ she started, “Recognise it aye? I got it customised after playing your game.” Both their eyes landing on the pixelated red heart that hung from his slender fingers. “But this one has a lock on it?”

Taking hold of her petite hand in his, he placed the pendent in her palm and closed his own around it. “I’m entrusting this with you, Bunty. Though it is yours and intended for you, please keep it safe”  _ I’m trusting you with this heart of mine. _

A distance away, their spectators observed the scene in front of them. Lucy and Umed shared a knowing look before turning to their boss, who wore a look of confusion. “Those two have become quite attached since they started working as manager and assistant. It’s natural for them to feel like this as they’re parting” Lucy softly muttered to him.

Feeling the fatherly protective instinct bubbling in his stomach, he glared hard at the blond Welshman who held his daughter in such close proximity. But he couldn’t help but feel a familiar ache eating at his chest for a reason he did not know.

Not caring that they had an audience, Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hard embrace, “I’m really going to miss you so much, Charles. I really am...” she whimpered. He turned his head to smile sympathetically at her genuine distress.

Wrapping his own strong arms around her waist, he let the feeling of her long lashes fluttering shut against his neck comfort him. "Even though I’m not physically there, we can always talk over the phone," he gently reminded her. Reminded himself.

"It’s not going to be the same, and you know it." Her petulant whines were flattering, but heartbreaking all the same. He couldn't say he did not share in her sentiment. "Are you saying you won't miss me?"

_ Why was she doing this? Does she realise she is making this so much harder? _

"You are well aware that is not true."

_ This was wrong. He should just stay. He wanted to stay. She wanted him to stay. He knew goodbyes are supposed to be painful, but why did this feel so wrong? _

Whatever left of the mask he planned to keep on for this moment was now gone. Burying his face into the crook of her neck he whispered his own reply, “I am going to miss you too Bunty” his own voice starting to crack at the surface.  _ More than you even you will. _

Entwined in each other's arms, he soothed himself by stroking his cheek against the tickling dark hair at her crown. Feeling her arms tightening around his frame, he slowly rocked them back and forth, slowly turning them around so his back was now facing everyone else, hiding her smaller frame.

Taking the risk of having her father potentially strangling him to death, he leaned down to gently brush his lips against hers. It was chaste, quick, but held the world in that exchange. “Just remember, whenever you feel lonely, just as I, look up at the sky and that’s where we’ll be. Even though we’re an ocean apart, we’re still under the same sky, and that will never change. Do you hear me, Bunty?”

**"Passengers for flight LAX108 to London please head for the gates. Boarding will begin shortly."**

_ No... _ she cried internally

Neither wanting to let go, the announcement of the inevitable brought them back into reality. “I think it is time for me to start making my way to the terminal” he said as he reluctantly released his hold on her, knowing that if he didn't, it would be impossible to bring himself to leave.

“Your tears are more devastating to my heart than I ever imagined.” He said with a laugh whilst cupping her face and wiping away her tears, not realising his own eyes glittered treacherously. “If you don’t stop, I don’t think I will be able to control myself and start to cry as well. I would rather remember leaving you with a beautiful smile on your face rather than you covered in tears, no matter how adorable you may be. So please, grant me one last smile before I leave, Bunty?”

Amongst the tears pooling in her eyes and silver streaks lining down her face shone that beaming smile that lit up his world every morning.

“That’s my girl” He met her forehead with his own.

_ Bunt _

Looking up over her towards his boss, soon to be ex-boss and colleagues, he nodded and smiled his last goodbyes. “You take care of yourself, ok Samara? The next time I see you, I want to see you giving your father a run for his money. I’ll... I will miss you dearly.” taking the first steps to exit their embrace.

“Thank you, Charles. For everything.”

“No Samara, I think I’m the one that should be thanking you.”

Holding each other’s gaze with finality they exchanged a bittersweet yet comforting smile. Charles making sure to engrave the sight before him deep into his memory.

He turned to take his leave and began making his way to the terminal, clutching his carry-on tightly in his left hand, the other tucked away in his pocket.

He thought back to her question that he purposefully ignored. Curling his hand around the feeling of cold metal, he grasped onto the charm that previously hung from the chains he separated from it just moments earlier. There nested in warmth, the second half of the gift he bestowed on Samara, a red quill; where at the tip, extended into the blade of a key, the completion to the heart that he had given her.

_ Perhaps one day when we meet again, I will give this wholeheartedly to you, the key to the heart. My heart. You, who have already found and thawed me from the depth of my frozen fortress. Will you still accept me when that time comes? _

Little did anyone know, the round talisman that found home in his right pocket, the place that he turned to so often, no longer found refuge in the place that encompassed his hand in that moment. He had already tucked it away in a place where he no longer needed to remember: to not let anyone close, to not trust and to not to give his heart away; all thanks to one person; the person he was now leaving behind.  _ I know with you my heart will be safe, I do not need protection from anyone else. _

Being brought out of his reverie, he found his body following wherever feet were taking him, further and further away from where he longed to be.

_ Don’t look back Charles, don’t you dare look back _ he warned himself. .

[ **You can choose to stop the story here, or add the next line for a more open to interpretation ending]**

“JONES!”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did! Not gonna lie, I did cry while writing it.  
> Most of this story is just filler for one particular quote I came up with and I wanted to highlight it here: 
> 
> “Just remember, whenever you feel lonely, just as I, look up at the sky and that’s where we’ll be. Even though we’re an ocean apart, we’re still under the same sky, and that will never change. Do you hear me, Bunty?”
> 
> This quote is always going to apply to Sam and Charles for me, wherever they may be, they will be connected through that string of fate and will always be there for each other.  
> One thing I’ve always believed was that romance aside, I can’t see them turning away from each other even under harsh circumstances. That if one person were to be in trouble, I can see them both dropping everything to see to the other person’s well-being.  
> After ep 123 , particularly the line where she says “I can safely that one of the things I love about myself, is that I have you in my life I think that after reading this, them staying apart would be cruel to both of them, not for romance, but for the bond they have with each other.  
> I can definitely, 1000% see Charles trying to run away from his feelings at some point and thinking that this is the right thing for him to do to stop his feelings from going into the deep end. It’s going to bite him in the ass.
> 
> When you find that person, you naturally gravitate to them, it’s a natural reaction and no matter how much you force yourself to act otherwise, you’ll end up going back to them. This is what I believe to be for Sam and Charles. Charles probably won’t realise how much her presence affects him until he’s actually away from her and can’t reach her. It might be a wake up call for him in one way or another. Remember that his hearts will stay frozen unless he’s by her side.
> 
> SONG LINK ( I strongly urge you to listen this verse and chorus section, it made me cry even more after reading the story:  
> https://youtu.be/LEJ_rxLx9kA?t=73  
> The lyrics to this section of the song very accurately and beautifully reflects Charles’ thoughts to Sam in this scene:  
> "So goodbye, don't cry and smile.  
> I'm going to leave all the times when my heart froze,  
> So goodbye,  
> To my lonely self in the dark,  
> I need you,  
> I need your love again"


End file.
